Vice president Scott, Kabimba snubs Chikwanda’s Cabinet meeting

Vice President Guy Scott and embattled Minister of Justice Wynter Kabimba who is also PF Secretary General this morning, October 3, 2013 snubbed a Cabinet meeting chaired by Acting President Alexander Chikwanda at State House.

Sources within government told Zambian Eye that the Vice president gave an excuse that he was supposed to traveled to South Africa to have his tooth attended to.

“This is unprecedented as the duo seem to clearly undermine the powers of the Acting President and those of the appointing authority President Michael Sata,” said the source adding that the rift in the ruling party was worse.

The source alleged that Kabimba has been busy with dark corner meetings and attempting to twist arms for District Commissioners from Western, North-Western and Southern Province, insisting that they must remain loyal to him.

Kabimba is also reportedly calling media heads and issuing threats based on their coverage of how the ground has moved under his feet.

“Evidently, this is a slippery-slope for the PF as a party in Government,” the source said and added: ”The choices for President Sata are getting fewer and fewer because he is dealing with issues of shifted loyalty.”

The PF has been embodied in wrangles following succession disputes with Ministers positioning themselves in anticipation of President Sata steeping down at the end of his tenure.

The party organs have called for Kabimba to steep down as Secretary General claiming that he has divided the party by coming up with his own structures that will support him when he announces his candidature.

Seeing this, some cabinet Ministers who also interested in the top position are now trying to undo him by having him removed as party’s Chief Executive Officer.

But Kabimba has charged that a clique of tribalists in PF are the ones sponsoring the cadres to raise against him. Scott has said he will speak against those wanting to hound Kabimba out of the party.